| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: as they run in ever widening circles to the shore. Most of us have
felt its fascination second only to that of the dotted spiral of the
skipping-stone, a fascination not outgrown with years. There is
something singularly attractive in the subtle force that for a
moment sways each particle only to pass on to the next, a motion
mysterious in its immateriality. Some such pleasure must be theirs
who have thrown their thoughts into the hearts of men, and seen them
spread in waves of feeling, whose sphere time widens through the
world. For like the mobile water is the mind of man,--quick to
catch emotions, quick to transmit them. Of all waves of feeling,
this is not the least true of religious ones, that, starting from
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx: National Assembly presents in its several Representatives the various
sides of the national spirit, but, in the President, this spirit is
incarnated. As against the National Assembly, the President possesses a
sort of divine right, he is by the grace of the people.
Thetis, the sea-goddess, had prophesied to Achilles that he would die in
the bloom of youth. The Constitution, which had its weak spot, like
Achilles, had also, like Achilles, the presentiment that it would depart
by premature death. It was enough for the pure republicans, engaged at
the work of framing a constitution, to cast a glance from the misty
heights of their ideal republic down upon the profane world in order to
realize how the arrogance of the royalists, of the Bonapartists, of the
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Collection of Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter: thank the washer-woman--
But what a VERY odd thing!
Mrs. Tiggy-winkle had not
waited either for thanks or for
the washing bill!
She was running running
running up the hill--and
where was her white frilled
cap? and her shawl? and her
gown--and her petticoat?
AND how small she had
|
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: them for airings and keeping them out of kitchens!"
I think the masculine element must have felt these angry vibrations: they
ceased from singing, and together we climbed out of the wood, to see
Schlingen below us, tucked in a circle of hills, the white houses shining
in the sunlight, "for all the world like eggs in a bird's nest", as Herr
Erchardt declared. We descended upon Schlingen and demanded sour milk with
fresh cream and bread at the Inn of the Golden Stag, a most friendly place,
with tables in a rose-garden where hens and chickens ran riot--even
flopping upon the disused tables and pecking at the red checks on the
cloths. We broke the bread into the bowls, added the cream, and stirred it
round with flat wooden spoons, the landlord and his wife standing by.
|
